At
the very last moment before she totally succumbed, golden lights like
fireflies drifted through the mist and landed on her outstretched
hand. Then they gathered and formed a large orb of golden light which
catapulted straight at the misty faerie. She shrieked, as her true
self was revealed. This was no faerie at all, but some evil creature
with black eyes and leathery wings.
~~~~~~
I
hit the mossy ground hard. The beast, now devoid of all life was
spiraling out of control and heading, face first straight
toward the spot where I had landed. I could hear its wings whistling
through the sky as it plummeted earthward. I knew I would be crushed
if I didn’t move fast but my brain wasn’t sending the message to
my legs so I just sat there, watching the large, bulky body growing
ever larger. Blocking out more and more of the sparkling orbs as it
fell.
I
was jerked, unceremoniously, behind a towering oak tree at the last
minute. The lifeless body of the enormous creature hit the ground
hard, making a huge crater in the soft earth. The impact shook the
surrounding forest like a bomb, sending dirt and debris flying in
every direction.
“Whoa!”
I shook my head and rotated my shoulder. The feeling was beginning to
return causing it to ache and throb. “I could have been totally
smashed!” A young woman with long fiery red hair stepped out from
behind the tree and stood by my side. “Yeah, you really could have.
Good thing I dropped by.”
I
jumped back at the sound of another human voice. Keeping a small bush
between us (I don’t really know what protection a small bush would
afford but it was all I had) I stared at the stranger in shock and
amazement. “Who are you!? And where did you come from?” I was
having a hard time keeping the stress of my recent brush with death
out of my voice. I shook a half closed fist at her. “Don’t come
any closer or I’ll, or I’ll…”
“Or
you’ll what? She brushed her hair back away from her face and
smiled. “Is that any way to say thank you? I just saved your life.”
I
pulled up my tattered gown and sat down on a soft patch of moss and
indicated for her to sit beside me. “I’m so sorry, I have had a
really bad night. Seeing someone else in this
forest, alone,
gave me a quite a fright. You can’t really trust things to be what
they look like in the fairy realm.”
“Oh,
I understand, I have had so many adventures that nothing surprises me
any more. But I’m not alone.” She leaned back and reached
behind a small tree. “You can come out now.” I watched as a small
fury creature with large owl eyes and hands that look like they were
borrowed from a spider money crawled from under a bush and onto the
girls shoulders, wrapping its thick, bushy, tail around her neck.
“Let me introduce myself. I am Ember
Innocenzi and this is
Perhluna, my traveling companion.” Perhluna waggled hello with flat
tipped fingers. “As for where we came from…that’s complicated.
But I can tell you that we were dropped here by a very accommodating
dragon by the name of Illustratia.”
“I’m
afraid that you haven’t had a very warm welcome. The faerie realm
is a lovely place and the gardens around the queens palace are very
peaceful. But the dark wood can be dangerous at night. I think we had
better stay put until first light. Maybe Arial will have found us by
then.”
I
leaned my head against the oak tree and closed my eyes, aware of
Ember’s curious stare. Without opening my eyes, I asked the
question. “Yes?”
Perhluna
disentangled the furry tail and went off in search of something to
eat and Ember laid down on her side, propping her head in her hand.
“Who is Arial?”
I
pictured Arial in my mind and smiled. “Arial is my
traveling companion, and so much more.” I wiped a single tear from
my cheek. “Formally she is known as Princess Arial, Daughter of
Queen Orlaith, the High Queen of the Frost Faeries and ruler of the
winter realm.” I opened one eye and glanced over at Ember, who had
scrunched her mouth to one side in quizzical disbelief. “Yeah, I
know. You have to spend some time in the faerie realm to get the full
impact”
We
both laughed out loud then clapped our hands over our mouths out of
fear that we might attract some deadly attention. Nudging each other
back and forth with our shoulders and sniggering softly, we waited
for dawn. I knew I had found a new friend.
©
Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009-2010
(Originally posted 2/17/12 on http://fairiefabels.com/2010/02/ember-in-faerie-land/ )
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